Feeding and winding mechanism.



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FEEDING AND lWINDING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 9. 1912. v 1,191,903.I

Patnted July 18, 1916 2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

Y' ATTORNEVS y w. LEWIN. FEEDING AND WINDING MECHANISM. APPLICATIONFILED MAR. 9. 1912.

1 ,1 91 ,903 Patented July 18, 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHET 2.

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WALTER LEWIN, 0F SAN FRANCISCD, CALIFORNIA.

FEEDING AND WINDING MECHANISM.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 18, 1916.

Application file d March 9, 1912. Serial No. 682,744.

To all whom t may concern:

Be itl known that I, VALTER LEwIN, a subject of Great Britain, and aresident of the city and county of San Francisco and State ofCalifornia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Feedingand Winding Mechanism, of which the following is a specification. v

The invention relates to feeding and winding mechanism and moreparticularly to a mechanism adapted Vto be used in a taximeter forfeeding a tape past a given point in a certain manner and a take-up reelfor said tape.

The object of my invention is to provide means for feeding a tape ortapespast. a given point in a certain manner by the movement of andpreferably by the reciprocation of a handle. I

Another object of the invention is to provide a reel on which for agiven movement of the handle a fixed amount of tape is wound regardlessof. the diameter of the accumulated roll of tape.

Another object of the inventionvis to provide a reel which revolves inone direction under the reciprocation of a handle.

Another object of the invention is to pron vide means for preventing themovement of the tape at certain times in the operation of the device.

This device 4possesses other advantageous features, which, with thelforegoing will be set forth at length in the following description,where I shall outline in full that form or embodiment of the inventionwhich I have selected for illustration in the drawings accompanying andforming part of the present specification.` The novelty Vof theinvention will be included in the claims succeeding said description.From this it will be apparent that I do not restrict myself to theshowing made by such drawings and description as I may adopt manyvariations within the scope of my invention as eX- pressed in saidclaims.

Referring to the drawings: Figure 1 is'a plan view of the feeding andwinding device of my invention mounted upon a supporting plate which ispartly broken away. Fig, 2 is a detail of an elevation partly in sectionshowing the handle connection and other features of the device. Fig. 3is an elevation partly in section showing the winding rreel and themeans for operating it. Fig. 4 is a detail showing the meansforpreventing the reverse'movement of the handle before it has reachedthe end of its throw in either direction. j i

The present device is particularly adapted to be used in taXimeters foruse on vehicles as disclosed in my prior application, Serial Number641,636, filed July 31, 1911, wherein the length of the trip in miles,the timerof duration of the trip, the cost of the trip andother data' isprinted upon a plurality of tapes,Y one of which is severed above theimprint thereon and delivered to the passenger, and the others wound ona take-up reel. In operating the device in connection with a taXimeterthe data upon the printing wheels, atthebeginning of a trip, isimprinted upon the tapes, the various items being spaced apart on thetape. The tape is then moved a slight distance to'remove the printeditems from below the printing point :of the. printing wheels, but not asuffi'- cient distance to bringnthe imprint from` one printing wheel .toposition under the neXt. The distance of this movement is generallyabout three eights of an inch, thereby causing the initial and finalimprints of each vprinting wheel vto lie adjacent each other. At the endof the trip the printing device is operated to imprint the final data onthev printing wheels onto the tape and the tape is then advancedasuitable distance so that the printed section of one tape may be cut offin the form of aticlret and presented to the passenger, the other tapesbeing accumulated in the reel.

In the drawings I have shown three tapes 2-3-4, but it is evident thatthe number of tapes may be varied depending upon the number of recordsdesired. The tapes 2-3, are provided on their faces remote from theprinting wheels with a coating of carbon or similar printing substancewhich produces the impression respectively on tapes 3 and 4 at thestamping operation. The tapes 2, 3, 4 are arranged respectively upon thesupplyreels', 6, 7 which are readily removable so that they may bereloaded.' The reels are heldfrorn revolving freely by the springs 8engaging their upper surfaces so that the withdrawntapes are heldl tautunder ten sion. From the supply reels the tapes are drawn over an idler9 to a position adjacent the printing Wheels indicated at 12; by thefeed rollers 13-14. The feed rollers 13, 14 are of a length preferablyequal to or greater than the widthv of the tape and are covered CID withrubber or some similar substance so that they may obtain a firm grip onthe tapes. These feed rolls are preferably formed with a. crown face sothat they always act to hold the tapes in central and alined position.After passing the feed rollers, the tapes 2-3 pass over the roller 15onto the take-up reel 16, and the other tape 4 moves downward so that itmaybe readily severed above the printed area.

The feed rollers 13-14 are operated by the movement of the handle 17,which lies on the outside of the taXimeter within convenient reach ofoperator, through the gear 18 loosely mounted on the'hollow shaft 19,the Aidler gears 2'1-22-23 and the gears 24,-25 on the feed rollers.

In the construction shown, the handle 17 is moved back and forth in theare of a circle in order to accommodate the stamping mechanism of thetaXimeter and consequently means must be provided for causing a movementof the tapes in one direction for this reciprocating motion. This isaccomplished by a construction which will now be described.

The handle 17 is securely attached to the hollow shaft 19 on which thetake-up reel revolves and to which is also attached the arm 26, so thatthe handle and the arm move simultaneously. Mounted on the arm 26 is atoothed. quadrant 27 which engages the gear 18 loosely mounted on theshaft 19, so that the gear 18 revolves under the action of the arm 26,only when the quadrant is in locking engagement therewith. The quadrantis provided with a slot which engages a pin 28 on the arm 26 which holdsit locked in one position, and is also provided with a light springwhich tends to turn the quadrant to the right as shown in F ig. 1. Whenthe handle 17 and, therefore, the arm 26 is moved from right to left thequadrant will rotate and become disengaged from the gear 18 and will notoperate to advance the tapes. Then the handle is moved in the oppositedirection, however, the quadrant is moved into mesh with the gear andbeing held stationary by the pin 28 causes the gear 18 to be moved withthe handle. The motion of gear 18 is transmitted to the feed rollers andcauses the tapes to be advanced. Provision is made, however, forproducing a slight movement of the tapes by the movement of the handletoward the left, the reasons for such movement having been heretoforeset forth. This is accomplished by means of the plate or disk 29 beingrigidly attached to the shaft 19 so that it moves in unison with thehandle, and preferably arranged below and spaced apart from the gear 18.The disk 29 is provided on its upper face with two pins 31-32 which inthe reciprocation of the disk 29 engage the arm 33 of the slide 34,which is capable of limited longitudinal movement under the action ofthe pins 31.--32 The slide 34 is provided with a toothed member 35 whichengages a pinion 3G mounted upon the back plate. Mounted upon the sameshaft and above pinion 36 is a pinion 37 which is in mesh with gear 18.The lower pinion 3G is provided with a ratchet which is engaged by aspring held pawl 38 arranged in pinion 37, which allows the pinion 36 tomore in one direction independently of pinion 37, but causes them tomove simultaneously in the other direction. The pin 31 is arranged sothat it contacts with and causes the movement of the slide 34 to theright as the handle approaches the end of its throw at the left. Themovement of the slide to the right turns the pinion 36 to the right Vandcauses la similar movement of pinion 37 which operates through theconnecting gears to advance the tapes a slight distance.

/Vhen the handle reaches its eXtreme left position, a projection on thedisk 29 engages a spring held arm 39 and moves a finger 41 on said arminto contact with gear 21 thereby preventing the further movement of thegear and preventing the momentum or tension in the parts from advancingthe tapes an excessive distance.

The slide 34 is prevented from being moved backward by the friction ofthe parts in the reverse movement of the handle by means of the linger42, carried by the fiat spring 43. When it becomes desirable to move theslide to the left, the pin 32 engages and presses upward the arm 44attached to thespring 43, thereby moving the linger 42 out of contactwith the slide. In its further movement, the pin 32 engages the arm 33of the slide 34 and moves the slide to the left. 4This operation takesplace as the handle approaches its extreme right position. During themotion of the handle from left to right the quadrant 27 engages the gear18 and causes the tapes to be advanced a suiicient distance to move theprinted area past the feed rollers, so that tape 4 may be severed toproduce a ticket. As the slide reaches its eXtreme left position thelinger 45 engages gear 18 and prevents the rotation thereof until theslide is again moved to the right. The movement of the handle to theleft, therefore, operates to advance the tapes a slight distance and themovement to the right operates to advance the tapes a longer distance.

The record tape or tapes which remain in the meter are taken up on thetake-up reel 16. Since the tapes are advanced b v the feed rollers, anequal distance at each complete operation and the diameter of the rollon the take-up reel varies with the amount of tape thereonl someprovision must be made for keeping the tape taut on the rcel regardlessof the amount of tape already ac- 11 cumulated. This is accomplished by'placing a coiled spring between the reel and its turning means, whichoperates to overcome these variations. In this particular instance,since the handle is reciprocated, some means must be employed whichoperates to cause the reel to move in one direction only. The reel ispreferably mounted in a bracket 46 the upper arm 47 of which is readilyremovable, so that the reel may be removed and the accumulated recordtape removed. The winding element 48 of the reel, which is provided withfianges on the ends is revolved by the handle by means of the shaft 49.This shaft is provided' on its upper end with a gear 51 which transfersthe motion of the shaft to the casing 52 through the gears 53-54 and 55,gear 55 being fixed to the casing 52. The winding element 48 of the reelis provided with a neck 56 extending into the casing 52 and is connectedto the casing by means of a coiled spring 57 lying within the casing.The effect, therefore, ruf-'moving the handle is to revolve the casing,thereby putting the spring in tension which causes the winding element48 or the reel proper to revolve. Arranged on the arm 47 is a springheld pawl 66 which engages the gear 51 and prevents a reverse movementthereof under the action of the spring 57. As the tape accumulates onthe reel it is evident that the reel will revolve through a shorter arcto wind the same length of tape than it would if the reel wascomparatively small. Should the movement of the casing be greatlyy inexcess of the movement of the winding element, on account of the windingelement being held by the record strip and the spring becomes tightlycoiled, the handle may still be operated to advance the tape withoutmoving the casing. This is accomplished by means of a frictionalconnection between the handle and the shaft 49. This frictionalconnection consists of a cone 58 mounted upon the shaft 49 and bearingin a conical cap 59 which is in engagement with the handle. The end ofthe shaft 49 is threaded and is provided with a thulnb nut 61 whichbears against the cap 59 so that the grip of the frictional contact maybe varied.

In the construction shown, in which the handle is reciprocated,provision must be made for causing the shaft 49 to be revolved in onedirection only. This is accomplished by providing the cap -59 with aratchet 62 which is engaged by a spring held finger 63 attached to thehandle'. A movement of the handle in one direction, therefore, rotatesthe cap 59 and causes the casing 52 to turn and in the movement of thehandle in the opposite direction the finger 63`rides over the ratchet 62and does not rotate the cap 59. Provision is also made for preventingthe handle from being moved in one direction until it has completed itsthrow in the other direction. This is accomplished by means of asegmental ratchet 64 securedto the back plate behind the handle. On thehandle is pivoted a pawl 65 one end of which engages the ratchet 64, andto the other end of which is connected the tension spring 67 whichalines the pawl with the handle when it is not engaging the ratchet. Themovement of the handle isv stopped at the ends of the throw by the lugs68 on the back plate, and the ratchet terminates in advance of the lugs68, so that when the handle is in its end positions the pawl is alinedwith the handle and out of engagement with the ratchet. A movement ofthehandle away from the lug causes the pawl to engage the ratchet andprevents a backward movement of the handle.

-Means are also provided for severing the tape 4 below the feed rollers13-14 to pro'- duce the ticket. The frame 69 which acts as a bearing forthe upper ends of the feed roller shafts is provided with a blade 71 ofgreater length than the width of the tape. A similar blade 72 whichforms the other side of the shear is mounted upon a slide 73 and ismovable so that its edge passes the edge of blade 71. The tape 4 passesbetween the edges and when the blade 72 is moved forward a suiiicientdistance it severs the tape. The slide 72 is moved forward by the bellcrank 74, the outer end of which is engaged by the spring held pawl 75arranged On the under side of plate 29. After being moved by the pawlthe slide is returned to its original position by the spring 76. Thepawl is preferably located in such position on the plate 29. that itpasses the bell-crank immediately before the handle contact with thestop 68 at the end of its throw to the right. The initial movement tothe left therefore operates to sever the tape.

I claim 1. A tape winding means adapted to be operated by the movementof a handle, comprising a take-up reel on which the tape is wound, ahandle and a spring axially disposed with respect to said reel arrangedbetween said handle and the take-up reel, said spring being arranged sothat a rotation of the handle varies the tension of said spring.

2. In a tape winding device adapted to be operated by the movement of ahandle, a handle and means for producing a movement of the tape in onedirection through a movement of the handle in either direction.

3. In a tape feeding device adapted to be operated by the reciprocationof a handle, a handle and means for producing a slight movement of thetape for a movement of the handle in one direction and a longer movementof the tape by the movement of the handle back to its original position.

4. A tape feeding means comprising a pair of feed rollers, a drivinggear connected to said feed rollers, a'handle, an arm connected to saidhandle and a spring held toothed quadrant on said arm adapted to engagethe teeth on 'said driving gear for a movement of the handle in onedirection.

5. A tape feeding means comprising a pair of feed rollers, a drivinggear connected to said feed rollers, a handle, an element carrying gearteeth adapted t0 be moved by the movement of said handle, a pinionengaging said gear teeth and connections between said pinion and thedriving gear.

6. A tape feeding and winding mechanism comprising a pair of feedrollers, a driving gear connected to said feed rollers, a take-up reel,a handle, means connecting said handle and the driving gear and a springconnection between said handle and the take-up reel.

7. A tape feeding and winding mechanism comprising a pair of feedrollers, a take-up reel, means for moving said reel, a handle foroperating said feed rollers, and take-up reel, moving means, means forproducing an intermittent movement of the tape in one direction for areciprocating movement of the handle, means for producing a movement ofthe reel moving means in one direction for a reciprocating movement ofthe handle and a spring connection between said reel and its movingmeans.

8. A tape feeding and winding means comprising a take-up reel, a handleconnected to said reel and adapted to be reciprocated, means tending toproduce a continuous rotation of the reel in one direction for areciprocating movement of the handle, and means for preventing a reversemovement of the reel.

9. A tape feeding means comprising a pair of feed rollers, a drivinggear connected to said feed rollers, a shaft upon which said gear isloosely mounted, a plate secured to said shaft, means for moving saidshaft, pins projecting from said plate, a slide adapted to be moved bysaid pins and means for transferring the motion of the slide in onedirection to the driving gear.

10. A tape feeding means comprising a pair of feed rollers, a drivingshaft, means for moving said shaft, a driving gear loosely mounted onsaid shaft and connected to said feed rollers, a plate secured to saidshaft and rotatable therewith, pins on said plate, a slide adapted to bemoved by said pins, means for transferring the motion of the slide inone direction to said driving gear, and means for locking said slide atthe end of said motion.

11. A tape feeding means comprising a pair of feed rollers, a drivingshaft, means for moving said shaft, a driving gear loosely mounted onsaid shaft and connected to said feed rollers, a plate secured to saidshaft and rotatable therewith, projections on said plate, a slideadapted to be moved by said projections, means for transferring the moltion of the slide, due to the motion of the shaft in one direction tosaid driving gear, and means for transferring part of the motion of theshaft in the other direction to the driving gear. I

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand at San Francisco,California, this lth day of March, 1912.

WALTER LEVIN. In presence of H. G. PRosT, R. HEFFERNAN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C.

